Friday, September 19, 2014

I was watching Save with Jamie the other day and besides the delicious recipes (I drooled over his beautiful panzanella and have been dreaming about the beef rendang with homemade chapatis, yum! ) I find it really great that he shows (with numbers) the insane amount of food that goes to waste for absolutely no reason – the show takes place in England, but I know that here in Brazil things are not any different.

I had to take responsibility for my home at a very early age and since I did all the shopping and cooking I had to be smart: there were four of us and nothing could go to waste. Luckily for me my brother was the only picky eater among us: my father and sister ate pretty much anything I cooked, and because they were fearless eaters I could experiment and try new things whenever I wanted to.

Leftover rice and pasta were quickly transformed into fritters, leftover tomato salad was placed in the fridge to be added to tomato sauce some other time, leftover greens were folded into beaten eggs for a delicious omelet – that’s how I managed the kitchen back then, and that made me learn a lot about food, long before blogs, cookbooks and TV shows. That is why I love how Jamie shows people how to transform ingredients into something else entirely – his tips are great.

When I made Nigella’s stout cake a while ago there was some leftover beer and since I wasn’t going to drink it I had to do something useful with it, and this bread was the result: I avoided wasting expensive beer and we had delicious open sandwiches for lunch, made with freshly baked bread – if that’s not a wonderful thing I don’t know what is. :)

Combine rye flour, yeast, beer, molasses, ½ teaspoon of the salt and water in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Set aside in a warm place until foaming (5-8 minutes), add all purpose flour and remaining salt and knead until smooth (5 minutes). Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size (1 ½ - 2 hours).

Line a large baking sheet with foil. Knock back dough and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, dusting with flour if necessary. Divide in half, then roll each half into a smooth ball. Dust top with a bit of flour, transfer to the prepared sheet, cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size (1 hour).
In the meantime, preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Bake until loaves are deep golden and sound hollow when tapped (30-40 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack, cool slightly, then serve warm or at room temperature.

5 comments:

i totally agree with you about food waste..i learned not to waste early on too when my husband and i were living on his national service wage of 300 drachmas a month..that was in greece in the 70's but even then the equivalent of $10 australian dollars was way below minimal standards..regardless of the money issue though there's the philosophical imperative..by the way your bread looks wonderful..jane

You know, it's a coincidence to run into a baking recipe using stout. I was just thinking about using stout in brownies. I made champagne brownies last week with a half cup of leftover champagne and it turned out so good! One thing I have noticed is that sweet baked goods made with a lot of alcohol seem to taste better the second day. Was that true for bread also, or was it better the first day?

Dear Jane, I think it's important not to waste not only to save our own money but also because there are so many people starving in the world, I feel bad when I have to toss something.Thank you for your words! xx

Laura, I agree! Thank you!

Thalia, I hope you like it!

Katie, I have made brownies with stout beer and they were heavenly! I can only dream about your champagne brownies, now, yum!Yes, the bread was even tastier the day after.Thank you!